- June 12, 2019
- A woman's world
- Daniil Belousov
Having received a beautiful bouquet of chrysanthemums as a gift for a birthday or any other holiday, every person dreams of keeping it in its original form for as long as possible. By themselves, these flowers can stand in water for quite a long time. Especially if they were collected quite recently. But even this is not enough.
Luckily, there are ways to make chrysanthemums last longer. They have long been known to florists and gardeners. But ordinary people don’t even realize how easy and simple it is to extend the life of flowers. Moreover, these methods work not only for chrysanthemums, but also for other fresh flowers. Let's take a closer look at them.
What to do to make cut chrysanthemums last longer: choosing a vase
First of all, you need to choose the appropriate vase that will suit these amazing flowers. The neck of the container should not be too narrow or too wide. It is best to select it based on the size of the flowers themselves. It is best if the hole is 2 times the width of the stems collected together.
The material of the container is not particularly important. A ceramic or glass vase will do. Therefore, you can use any utensils you like. The main thing is that the flowers are not completely immersed in it. But you shouldn’t take a vase that’s too small.
Flower processing
In order for chrysanthemums to last longer, you need to first look at the lower part of the stem of each flower. It must be cleaned and all damaged and dried leaves removed. Gardeners recommend removing even fresh green leaves, since they will sooner or later begin to rot in the water and quickly ruin the entire bouquet. It is also worth clarifying that green leaves will gradually draw in excess moisture. People can't see these parts of flowers through the vase anyway, so there's no point in leaving them.
Preparing flowers
If chrysanthemums grow in your flowerbed, do not cut them, but break them off, so they will absorb more moisture. There are flowers that are best cut at the bud stage, but chrysanthemums are not one of them; wait until the flower has fully bloomed. Break them off either early in the morning, or in the evening or on a cloudy day.
If the bouquet is given as a gift or purchased, the stem must be cut again with a knife or crushed with a hammer at an angle. Divide the resulting oblique cut into several parts and insert a match between them so that the edges do not meet, this will enhance the absorption of water. Repeat this procedure every 2-3 days.
If you take cut flowers out of the water, pinch the stems with your finger, this will prevent the appearance of an air lock, which has a detrimental effect on the plant. To reduce moisture evaporation, remove all inflorescences with damaged flowers, lower and drying leaves.
What water to put chrysanthemums in
To preserve flowers for a long time, you need to place them in filtered water. The temperature should be room temperature. When talking about what kind of water to put chrysanthemums in, you need to take into account that it is this water that is largely responsible for the shelf life of the bouquet. Tap water is too heavy and full of impurities. If you fill a vase with it, the plant will not last long. Even if the chrysanthemum stands in it, it will still look stale.
It is not recommended to fill the container entirely; even half is enough. After this, flowers are installed in it. You need to check that each stem is immersed in water and receives all the necessary nutrition.
Another way is to plant a chrysanthemum in a pot
Special connoisseurs of elegant chrysanthemum plant it in pots, because this way it lasts much longer. This perennial plant will delight you with luxurious blooms year after year!
But you can’t plant and forget – chrysanthemums require attention and quality care. Without observing the temperature regime, without proper watering and fertilizing, the plant will soon die.
Chrysanthemums love light, but the direct rays of the scorching sun have a detrimental effect on them. Professionals advise placing chrysanthemums near windows facing western and eastern. In the area of southern windows, chrysanthemums bloom especially luxuriantly, but they need shelter from the midday sun.
Placing the pot in the shade is not a solution to the situation. In too dark places, the plant will not have enough light for normal growing season. With the onset of summer, it is advisable to move the chrysanthemum pot to a glazed balcony or loggia with access to fresh air; without this, the flower will not bloom.
Watering is carried out as the surface substrate dries. Drying out can cause chrysanthemums to lose flowers and leaves. Water the plant carefully to prevent the soil from becoming waterlogged.
Where to put flowers
In order for chrysanthemums to stand in water longer, the vase must be placed in a bright place, however, away from direct sunlight. It is also recommended to keep flowers as far as possible from heating radiators.
If we talk about room temperature, flowers retain their freshness longest at 19-20°C. In a hotter room, the bouquet will wilt much faster.
It is recommended to change the water in the vase every few days. In this case, it is not enough to simply pour out the old liquid and fill the container with new one. It is also necessary to clean glass or other material from any mucus that has formed. It appears during the process of storing flowers. If you leave this substance, the flowers will deteriorate faster, and a very unpleasant odor will begin to emanate from the water itself. Like a fish aquarium that hasn’t been cleaned for a long time.
Preparing water for flowers
So, you were presented with a bouquet of chrysanthemums.
We will tell you how to preserve cut chrysanthemums so that they delight you with their grace and extraordinary aroma for a long time. Flower shops know how to preserve chrysanthemums in a vase for a long time. Stop by your local flower shop to buy special products to help prolong the freshness of flowers. If there is no store nearby, use folk advice. They will definitely tell you how to keep chrysanthemums in a vase longer. Here are some of them:
- Dissolve one tablet of acetylsalicylic acid in 2 liters of standing water at room temperature. The resulting solution will help restore even slightly wilted flowers.
- Half a teaspoon of salt or 25 g of sugar dissolved in 0.5 liters of water will help maintain the freshness of chrysanthemums.
- Dissolve several crystals of potassium permanganate in water at room temperature so that the liquid acquires a pale pink tint. The resulting solution will help the plants not to wither for a long time.
Don't know how to keep a bouquet of chrysanthemums in a vase longer? Try another way. Dip the peeled chrysanthemum stem into very cold water for a few minutes, then into very hot water for one minute. Then prepare a solution with sugar in water at room temperature and place the flowers in it.
If you are interested in how to preserve chrysanthemums in winter, use the advice of florists. They recommend placing a bouquet of flowers away from heat sources, in a slightly cool room. Then the chrysanthemums will last a very long time, maintaining their freshness and beauty.
Where to put the bouquet? How to care for flowers
Of course, a bouquet of chrysanthemums should be placed in a spectacular vase to make the flowers look even more beautiful.
It is important to choose the right shape and size. Florists recommend paying attention to the neck of the vase - its diameter should be approximately twice the diameter of the bouquet. It is also necessary to prepare the flowers themselves. To do this, use a sharp knife to trim the stems of the plant. In this case, the cut should be made obliquely. If you cut chrysanthemums on your own in your garden, choose blooming buds. Unfortunately, chrysanthemum flowers, unlike roses, tulips and peonies, do not open in water.
The lower part of the plant also needs to be prepared. To do this, clear the part of the stem close to the cut from wilted leaves. It is also advisable to remove green leaves if there are too many of them so that they do not interfere with the plant’s absorption of liquid. We recommend preparing the cut itself. To do this, make a cross-shaped cut on it, and move the resulting parts to the sides.
Make sure that the flowers in the vase are submerged in water. After 2 days, do not forget to change the water and do this regularly. It is recommended to lightly trim the ends of the stems, maintaining a cross-shaped cut. A suitable place for the vase is a table or bedside table. Avoid places with drafts and direct sunlight.
Useful tips
To make chrysanthemums last longer, it is recommended to make cross-shaped cuts on the bottom of the stems. This will allow the plants to absorb water much better and remain unchanged for 15 or even more days. It is best to leave the vase on the table, bedside tables or any other place where there are no serious drafts.
Chrysanthemums do not like fruits and berries, so it is recommended not to place a bouquet of flowers next to such natural decorations. It is also worth paying attention to one interesting recipe from florists. They use it very often. If a person purchases a bouquet that he plans to give as a gift in the future (for example, the next day he needs to go to a birthday or other festive event), then in this case the best solution would be to send the bouquet to the refrigerator. First, just wrap all the flowers in wet paper. This will keep the bouquet fresh and also protect the plants from excessive moisture loss.
What to add to water
If you don’t want to struggle with homemade recipes and have extra funds, then at any flower shop you can purchase specialized products that were specially designed to prolong the life of plants as long as possible. But if you think that such drugs are too expensive and you don’t want to use them, then folk remedies are also suitable.
The most common of them is 1 aspirin tablet, which is filled with 2 liters of filtered water at room temperature. As soon as acetylsalicylic acid is completely dissolved in the liquid, you can place the plants in this water. But you shouldn’t pour aspirin into the water immediately after buying a bouquet. There is no great need for this. As a rule, acetylsalicylic acid is used when chrysanthemums have already begun to dry out or are gradually fading.
Salt and sugar
Another good way is to pour half a liter of clean water into a vase and add half a small spoon of fine salt (preference should be given to sea salt). As soon as its crystals dissolve, you can safely place the bouquet in the container.
To make chrysanthemums last longer, granulated sugar is added to the water. It is best to buy beet or cane. You need to add 25 grams of this component to the water and wait until the sand is completely dissolved. After this, you can put the flowers in the water. In this case, the bouquet will last much longer than in ordinary water.
What to add to water if the flowers have not yet opened
In addition to how to preserve chrysanthemums in a vase with water, many often face the fact that after purchasing them in a store, these beautiful colors have not yet fully opened. If we were talking about tulips, then it would be enough to wait a couple of days until their buds open.
It is worth noting that chrysanthemums are not those plants that begin to actively open mainly after purchase and installation of water. If it happens that you purchased flowers that have not yet fully bloomed, then in this case the so-called folk methods cannot solve the problem.
You will have to artificially open the buds. To do this, it is enough to purchase a drug called “Bud No. 2”. The product has detailed instructions that tell you what needs to be diluted and in what proportion. Therefore, no problems will arise.
How long to keep a bouquet of chrysanthemums in a vase: the second life of a wilted bouquet
So, you carefully looked after the bouquet of chrysanthemums, but it still began to fade. In this section we will tell you not only how long to keep a bouquet of chrysanthemums in a vase, but also how to revive it when it seems that nothing will help.
There are many tips that recommend putting flowers in boiling water. Yes, the flowers visually come to life, but the effect is so short-lived, and then the flowers die completely. If you need to keep a bouquet of chrysanthemums fresh for several hours at any cost, try it, but if you want to store a bouquet of chrysanthemums in a vase for a long time, this method is absolutely not suitable.
Original bouquet of chrysanthemums in a vase
Another way to temporarily revive a wilted bouquet of chrysanthemums:
- Place chrysanthemum stems 10 cm into boiling water and leave for 5-7 minutes;
- Cut off the blackened ends at an angle of 45 degrees and make cross cuts 3-4 cm deep;
- Place in cool water with bait.
Thanks to this method, it is possible to revive chrysanthemums, and the bouquet will last for several days.
Do you love flowers and floristry? You will like our articles:
- The best autumn flowers - annuals and perennials: names, photographs, brief description
- Flowers as a gift - to whom is it customary to give which flowers according to the rules of floral etiquette?
- How to keep flowers in a vase longer using aspirin, sugar, alcohol, lemonade, bleach?
- The most beautiful flowers in the world: names, photos
- What flowers should not be given for a birthday, March 8: list, signs
How to prevent stem rotting
To make chrysanthemums last longer, potassium permanganate will help. It must be added to the water in such an amount that the liquid acquires a very delicate light pink tint. After this, the plants will stand in such water much longer.
But you need to be extremely careful. If you add too much potassium permanganate, it will burn the stems of the plant and it will die very quickly. Also, before placing a bouquet in such water, you need to mix it thoroughly so that the color is uniform.
How to extend the life of chrysanthemums?
Bouquets of chrysanthemums of any shade (from delicate white to passionate red) are a pleasant gift for a loved one, colleague, relative, teacher, etc. Although these flowers are considered one of the longest-living, you can extend their lifespan even further. How to keep cut chrysanthemums in their original form longer? There are several ways to do this.
If the chrysanthemums have already begun to fade
If you really don’t want to part with a beautiful and bright bouquet, then in this case you can use a few tricks from flower growers. First of all, fill a basin or bath with ice water and immerse the flowers in it for a while. After a few minutes in the icy liquid, remove the bouquet and immediately plunge it into hot water.
After this, it is necessary to assess the condition of the stems and cut off all rotten parts. At the next stage, the bouquet is again sent into cold water. But after this there is no need to send him back into a hot shower. It is necessary to take the flowers into the room, where they will gradually come to their senses at room temperature. Thanks to this, it is possible to extend the life of even already withering plants much longer.
But even if a person knows what to put chrysanthemums in so that they last longer, it is not always possible to avoid rapid withering of the plants. If the flowers are drooping and look lifeless, then this is not a reason to throw them in the trash. To correct the situation, you need to cut the stem and lower it into ice water. You need to keep the plant in this position for about 2 minutes. After this, the stems (the rest of the flowers do not need to be immersed anywhere) are transferred to hot water for 1 minute and then placed in water with sugar at room temperature.
To make a bouquet of chrysanthemums last longer
Unpretentious and durable, cut chrysanthemums retain the freshness and brightness of their colors for a long time, so they are used in creating various flower arrangements for any occasion. However, like all flowers, they require special care for the bouquet, then for 20 days you can enjoy a bright floral gift.
When choosing a bouquet of chrysanthemums, you should remember that the buds do not bloom in water, so the flowers must be open. Before placing the bouquet in water, it is necessary to remove the lower leaves that will be in the vase so that they do not rot and create a harmful environment. The stems of the plants must be split into several parts with a knife to make it easier for them to absorb water. However, we must remember that the stems of these plants are quite fragile and weak, and therefore require careful handling.
Cut chrysanthemums do not like dry, hot rooms. It is best to place the vase with the bouquet in a cool room, no higher than +20 degrees, without drafts. In a warm room, flowers lose color, wither and die. If you notice that chrysanthemums are starting to die, try to revive them. Pour warm water into a container and place the flowers there for a few minutes. Then place them in cold water for the same amount of time. After this, rinse the stems under running water, renew the cuts on the stems and place in a vase with water at room temperature. This procedure significantly enlivens the bouquet.
In order for the composition to smell fragrant longer and refresh the interior, it should be fed and strengthened. To do this, feed and fertilizer are added to the water, which should be changed every two days. Flower shops sell special concentrates that extend the life of cut flowers. If you don’t have such funds at hand, you can make do with what you have in the house. Dissolve 1 teaspoon of sugar in 1 liter of water and pour into a vase. You can add an aspirin tablet to clean water. It will serve as an antiseptic and preserve the color of the flowers. You can also place a silver coin in a vessel, drop camphor alcohol, and put a couple of crystals of potassium permanganate.
These unpretentious flowers do not like direct sunlight, proximity to heat sources, or drafts. You should not place chrysanthemums on a table where ripe fruits are located.
According to an ancient Chinese legend, in time immemorial, a white dragon set out to destroy the hot daylight. In a frantic impulse, he tormented him mercilessly, and sparkling sparks fell down to the ground, turning into flowers of extraordinary beauty. Subsequently, this miracle of nature was called “chrysanthemum”. In the East, it symbolizes the sun, and also happiness and longevity. It is not for nothing that this flower is depicted on coats of arms and coins, and in Japan there is even an Order of the Chrysanthemum. But in the East, chrysanthemums not only delight the eye and sense of smell, but are also eaten in the form of salads and sweets.
In Russia, this flower most often evokes an autumn mood, since in nature we admire its bright caps against the backdrop of already flying leaves and a gloomy sky. These flowers are not at all picky and, with proper care, will be able to delight with their rich colors for quite a long time, even standing in a vase. How to properly preserve already cut chrysanthemums?
A bouquet of incredible beauty is collected or purchased in a store and delivered home. How to properly take care of chrysanthemums? Here are a few little tricks to extend your time admiring already cut flowers.
When choosing a bouquet, first of all, pay attention to fully bloomed specimens
Unlike other flowers, which are best purchased or cut at the initial stage of flowering, chrysanthemums remain open longer. Before placing the bouquet in the vase, carefully cut each stem diagonally with a very sharp knife. The foliage must be removed from the lower part of the stem. The flower vase should be filled with rain or melt water. It is better to first settle the tap water, removing chlorine. Too cold or warm water will have a detrimental effect on the condition of the flowers, so put the bouquet in water only at room temperature. To extend the life of the bouquet, the water must be replaced every day or at least every other day, and the flowers themselves must be trimmed again from time to time. Periodic spraying with soft water has a good effect on the preservation of the bouquet. To improve the supply of nutrient moisture to the flower, the lower end of the stem can be cut crosswise and slightly split. Your wonderful bouquet will last longer in a cool room (with a temperature no higher than +20° C). The absence of bright sunlight and nearby heating devices will further prolong its existence. While admiring flowers, do not forget that they do not tolerate drafts, tobacco smoke and proximity to any fruit.
